Friday, May 6, 2011

Beastly surprise: As the photographer trained his lens on the colourful bird as it drank at an African river, a crocodile and a hippo burst from the tranquil waters straight in front of him

After hours waiting beside an African river, Arnaud Germain thought he finally had the perfect shot of his favourite bird.

But as the wildlife photographer trained his lens on the colourful kingfisher, he got a rather different snap than he was expecting.

All of a sudden, a crocodile and a hippo burst from the tranquil waters straight in front of him, locking jaws in ferocious battle.

Arnaud desperately tried to refocus his camera on the river monsters as they fought on the banks of the Shire River, in the Liwonde National Park, Malawi.

Jaws: The two river monsters tussled for a few minutes as the hippo tried to defend its calf

As these incredible images show he captures the moment the crocodile and hippo clashed in a bloody tooth-on-tooth tussle.

At first it looks like the reptile has the upper hand as its head is almost as large of the hippos but the protective mum, defending a calf, soon proves too strong sending the scaly intruder packing, bloodied and bruised.

And the kingfisher seemed completely unphased by the commotion and stayed on its perch the whole time ready for its close up.

I'm waiting: The kingfisher seemed completely unphased by the commotion and stayed on its perch the whole time ready for its close up

The remarkable sequence of events unfolded on Arnaud's 32nd and last trip to the park and made for a event he would never forget.

Arnaud, 37, who has now moved to Nuneaton, Warks, said the momentous day started like any other morning with no hint of the drama to come.

He said: 'After six years in Malawi and 32 trips to Liwonde National Park, I was on my last game drive.

'It was a beautiful morning of June, the air was cold and crisp, and McLoud Kaliati (my guide and friend) and I were alone in the car.

Worth the wait: The remarkable sequence of events unfolded on Arnaud's 32nd and last trip to the park and made for a event he would never forget

'To make the picture more interesting, there was a female hippo in the background. I started shooting with my 500mm lens and realised that there was a tiny baby hippo with the female.

'After five very peaceful minutes and as I was still composing shots with the kingfisher and the hippos when all hell broke loose.